November

Monday, December 29, 2014

New Beginnings

I love this week before the New Year. Well, I love this year. I don't think I was too wild about the beginning of last year. This year I can say with a happy heart. " Nothing in meaningless. Nothing, for the Christian, is a dead end. All endings are beginnings." ( From All That Was Ever Ours, p. 64)

Rain this year helps so much. Seeing green again does fill me with hope. Just this morning, I had to take these pictures.

Last year, and the year before, there was no green like this. It makes me so happy to see this today.

I started reading yesterday. East of Eden by John Steinbeck. I had to share this little gem, on California. ( I wish I knew this last year.)

" I have spoken of the rich years when the rainfall was plentiful. But there were dry years too, and they put terror on the valley. The water came in thirty-year cycle. There would be five or six wet and wonderful years when there might be nineteen to twenty-five inches of rain, and the land would shout with grass. Then would come six or seven pretty good years of twelve to sixteen inches of rain. And then the dry years would come, and sometimes there would be only seven or eight inches of rain. The land dried up and the grasses headed out miserably a few inches high and great bare scabby places appeared in the valley. People would have to haul water in barrels to their farms for drinking. Some families would sell out for nearly nothing and move away. And it never failed that during the dry years the people forgot about the rich years and during the wet years they lost all memory of the dry years. It was always that way."

I am also listening to" My First Summer in the Sierra by John Muir" by LibriVox. My favorite reader, Adrian Praetzellis.
We have a cold storm on its way and the deserts might get snow. It feels so nice to have cold winter.
The oranges and grapefruit and lemons need this. We won't be as freezing as some places. Our blood oranges are getting that lovely color of red on them
.

blood oranges

I do wish when they were naming this orange they might have called it something pretty. It has the nicest oranges and looks so pretty when it is almost purple inside. Such good flavor too.

pink grapefruit

The pink grapefruit hasn't started changing yet. It will now with the cold. Our other oranges and lemons are starting to turn. I never worry about the Valencia oranges. Our Meyer lemons are little this year but so filled with juice. After last summer, I am so thankful for this crop. To see that they made it fills me with such relief. I was so afraid, that the drought might have caused us to have to turn off the water to the trees. I think it is a good thing to be aware of the gift of rain. I am sure I needed such a wake up call. Living in town, I never worried to much about weather. Living out here, though, I am so aware of the storms and rain and drought.
So I think this new year is already off to a good start.

Wow, that citrus is so pretty!! Good to see green---somewhere! Well, we have cold and snow here, so I can't expect too much--just some green winter wheat shoots. I may have to read 'East of Eden', that quote from it was interesting. Is that green grass a horse paddock or was some crop growing there? Have a great New Years.

The field next to the airport is so green right now, Ben and I just stare at it as we drive by. It's just amazing. I'm so glad for the citrus this year too. We picked up blood oranges at the farmer's market on Saturday, they are so tasty. And the oranges that hang over our fence are really good this year too. I am so thankful for the rain that has cleansed everything and made it beautiful. :) I hope you have a good new year's week!

I'm a tad envious of your citrus. They look so healthy and delicious.I bought a bag of baby carrots with no additives in them and i thought of you. I looked on the back package and sure enough they came from Bakersfield California.

Wow, Steinbeck and Muir, you are really on a California reading extravaganza. The quote about the annual rainfall is certainly meaningful. It does look like things will be much greener this year.

Your citrus are so healthy and beautiful. I think this new house of ours came with a Meyer lemon, a small scrubby one. Those round, juicy lemons are a little different than the regular kind. Don't think I've seen a Meyer before. Have a lovely time ringing in the New Year . . . just a few more days!

Oh how nice it would be to have oranges hanging ripe on the trees for the picking in my back yard! I can't even imagine it. I'm so glad this year is ending on a much better note than last year...all the wonderful things you can now see and enjoy!! If I don't "talk" to you before, have a Happy New Year!

Such wisdom in your reading material. Growing up in a rural area, it was obvious farmers were much more aware of the weather conditions because their livelihoods depended on it. So glad you have gotten the needed rain to give a good start to the new year. I pray your new year will be filled with blessings.

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About Me

This year we will be married 34 years. To my best friend. I have walked with God 28 of those years. I have been blessed with wonderful friends and family. I have six children, three who are married. With eight grandchildren.
We have 5 boys and three girls, I have been so blessed. The fruit of the womb is God's reward. I will celebrate my blogging 5th year anniversary in July. Wow, it has been fun!
This blog is about my garden, my family and my attempts at sewing, wood projects, gardening and just life in general. Thanks for stopping by.